The Shield of Faith

Eph 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.




The “Shield of Faith.” What does it mean?

Paul was a scholar of the Old Testament. He about shields in the Old Testament, and how they were used.

We do not know exactly what an Old Testament shields looked like, because we have no pictures. But we can infer some things about them. For one thing, they must have been very large. They were so large that that even a giant like Goliath had someone else to carry his unless he was actually in battle. If he carried it all day, he would have been too tired to fight!

We know they were made mostly of metal. When King Saul was killed in battle, the prophet Samuel said that it was stained with blood and would never be oiled again. Metal shields had to be oiled to prevent rust, and to make them shiny. If the shield were made of wood, wicker or leather, it would not need to be oiled.

Such a shield would of necessity be unwieldy in a battle. If the shield obstructed your vision or made it difficult for you to thrust and turn, But these kinds of shields was extremely helpful in siege warfare or mass movements.

But shields had three main uses.

The first was to display who you were. Your shield showed not only your side, but also your position in life. In most ancient armies, shield carried the crest of the warrior, their family and their tribe.

In Chronicles there’s an intriguing statement about King Solomon having two hundred shields of hammered gold. It is mind-boggling to think how much those golden shields would be worth. But golden shields would be useless in battle. These shields were for showing off Solomon’s authority and wealth.

The second use of a shield was to protect the bearer from missile or thrusting attacks. The main use of a shield was to stop arrows and spears. In a sword fight, you had to be quick, and a shield slowed you down. But against arrows, the shield was a necessity. You simply got behind it and hid.

The third purpose of a shield was not only to protect you, but to protect your fellow soldiers. When the army attacked a walled city, they would march in formation up to it with very large shields. That way, whatever they shot at them or dropped on them would not harm them. The Romans had a maneuver they called “the turtle” in which they locked their shields together over their heads and marched up to the gates of a city protected from the arrows and flaming darts reigned on them from above.

Shields show off who we are. They protect us from attack. They link with other shields and protect us all together. Keep these three uses in mind. We’ll return to them later.

In Paul’s metaphor, faith is our shield. Old Testaments metaphors abound about shields—for example:

Ps 5:12For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous: you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Ps 7:10-13 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day. 12 If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow. 13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;

he makes ready his flaming arrows.

Ps 18:35 You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me;

God is our shield, victory is our shield. Joy is our shield. But nowhere in the old Testament does it say that faith is our shield. It is an entirely new concept.

I am a writer. The hardest part of being a writer is the constant rejection. Even famous writers were failures long before they were famous. Ernest Hemmingway, for example was said to have his study papered with rejection letters he received over the years from publishers who did not believe he was good enough to publish.

Today the situation for writers is in many ways much worse for writers. In order for a first-time writer to publish a book, it usually goes through two hundred publishers before it makes it to one who will print it. Most first time books lose money, not make it. To want to writ professionally is to be open to constant criticism and rejection. Most people give up before they find a publisher. If they knew their odds, they probably would not even try.

But some writers do get published. those the ones who do must believe in their own abilities. They persevere because they know that someday others will discover them. They must have faith in themselves. This faith is their shield against rejection.

As successful salesman is the sme. He must believe and have no doubt that one day, he will make a sale. Even if the first ten prospect say know, he must believe that one will say yes. It is faith that keeps him going through a sea of rejection.

I use these examples carefully. I do not ean to imply that Christians should have faith in themselves, or that they should practice the art of positive thinking. Such things are irrelevant to the task before us. It is not only the fact of faith, but its content that is important. To go up against the world, the flesh, and the Devil armed only with a foolish self-confidence is to face the enemy with a paper shield.. We cannot succeed unless our shield is strong and true.

The Christian life is tough. Our enemy will show us no mercy. He is going to come at us with everything he has. He will dangle irresistible temptations in front of us. He will belittle us with contradiction and guilt. He will call us all kinds of names. He will even incite our own family and friends against us. If we do not have faith, there is no way we can stand.

Our faith is not in ourselves. It is in Christ.

Faith functions in our lives the same way an ancient shield functioned in battle.

First, faith projects the emblem and authority of Christ. It is our badge.

Sometimes, a policeman’s badge is called his shield. In many ways it is. When a policeman goes out on patrol, his badge is his first line of defense. It is a display of authority which causes most people to immediately surrender. It will not keep the worst criminals away. But those who still have a modicum of fear of authority will yield to it. They know that the badge signifies that the entire weight of the law is behind us.

Jesus is our badge. Those who come against us will quake at his authority. That emblem gives us confidence that we cannot be overcome.

Jesus died on the Cross for you. This fact alone shows us how valuable we are to God. Think of the enormity of that! Do you think, then that He will allow such an investment to go unprotected? Do you think He will give up on you easily. We can take comfort in God’s security for us. When we feel scared or alone, remember the mark you wear as a Christian. God will defend you, because you bear His name. He has already pursued you to death. Do you think he will give up on you now?

Second, faith is our defense against the Devil’s fiery darts.

I once saw a stage production of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress that beautifully illustrated this. The Devil was represented by a thirty-foot Chinese dragon which snaked around the sanctuary and up the the stage. On the stage was Christian, holding his shield of faith. Out of the mouth of the dragon came fiery darts, right at the hapless knight. As the darts flew, a voice could be heard whispering their names—guilt, lust, worry, depression, wrath, pride, and so forth. Each dart was answered by the turn of his shield, and fell to the floor harmlessly.

Satan’s worst darts are not those of temptation, but of condemnation. It is much easier to him to make a believer lose his courage than to make him fall into sin. We guard against overt sins. But we do not know how important it is to equally guard ourselves against the illusions of the mind which cause us to fall.

When we recognize what Jesus has done for us, why should we listen to anyone else? We can hold up our heads proudly anywhere, because we know that we are redeemed by His blood and by His power.

Third, faith joins us to others in mutual defense.

There are times for each one of us when our faith fails. We have all experienced those times. But when we are walking with other believers, if our faith fails, others can protect and defend us. We cannot be strong alone. We really do need one another.

Often I have been with people in the extremity of pain and suffering. At that time, often well meaning friends and fellow believers will say the exact wrong thing to them. They will tell them “just trust in God. He will help you.” If they could trust in God themselves, they wouldn’t be crying! At the worst times in our lives, we often cannot trust in God alone. We need someone else to trust God for us. We need people who will surround us with prayer. Who will encourage us to keep on going, who will offer us friendship and acceptance, until such time as we regain our faith and strength. We need, like the ancient Romans, to form the turtle formation over them, with the understanding that one day they will join the formation as well.

It is often interesting in the Bible when the shield is mentioned, it if often in the context of advancing, instead of defending. The reason that Satan is showering us with fiery darts is because he is under siege, not us. We are advancing on his territory, and he cannot stand it. So he sends down arrows of discouragement to keep us away. But it will not work for him. When one believer loses strength the others will be there. When one believer is wounded, the others will hold him up. Nothing can stop us as we go forward together under the banner of Jesus. Behind the shield of faith, we will go on forever.